A Work in Progress
by MiDnIgHtHoUr77
Summary: Zutara. AU. What more can I say? All the Avatar characters we know and love with the joys of high school. Slight Taang and Sukka.
1. New school New people

**Alright so... I don't own Katara or Zuko or ATLA or anything really. In case you missed it in the description this is AU. If you really wanna read this... good luck to you.**

"Have fun at school. Play nice with all the other kids. Don't get in trouble. Don't smart-mouth off to the teachers. Don't.." His daughter cut him off before he could complete his third don't.

"Dad. Chill. I got this. It's only like the tenth school I've had to transfer to in the middle of the school year. Besides I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself." Katara smiled at her father. He always gave her the same speech before the first day at a new school. She could see all her classmates streaming around the jeep, wondering who the heck she was. _God, I hate new schools. _

"I know you do Princess."

"Dad! Don't call me Princess! It was cool when I was five, but I'm sixteen now."

"I don't care how old you are. You're still Princess."

"Kay, great, Katara's a Princess still. Can we go now?" Her older brother, Sokka, chimed in from the back seat.

"Don't be a grump Sokka. Just because I beat you out here and got to sit shotgun doesn't mean your life is over." She turned around and stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck his tongue back out at her.

"You two play nice. I'll be back around 3. Right here."

"Dad. There might be sports that I can try out for."

"Then I'll be here unless you text me. I suppose you want to try and find some sports too Sokka?"

"Duh, Dad."

"Right. Bye then."

"Bye Dad." His children chorused back at him and climbed out of the vehicle. They stood there as he drove away. Katara's leather messenger bag slung carelessly over her shoulder. Sokka's one strap back pack securly over his head and on his shoulder as well.

"Well," Sokka turned to his baby sister. He wasn't gonna lie. She was pretty in her own right and new schools always made him nervous about new guy threats. Sokka was fully aware that she could handle herself but that didn't mean he didn't worry. Her raven hair was untamably wavy and her big blue eyes could enrapture anybody. They were both athletic and had according builds. She never seemed aware of it all though. What she wore was geared more towards comfortable than fashionable. "Try not to die. You're big brother has more important things to do." He heard her half scoff and half laugh.

"You must be new here." Katara turned around and faced what appeared to be a younger girl accompanied by a boy. It was the girl who had spoken.

"Yeah, how do you know?"

"Everybody knows to move out of the way of the blind girl."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Katara side-stepped to let the other girl pass.

"I was joking Sugar Queen." She flashed a big cheesy smile.

"Sugar Queen? How am I Sugar Queen?"

"You just are. I'm Toph. This is Aang."

"I'm Katara, not Sugar Queen."

"Hi Katara! I'm Aang! Isn't today just great? I think today is a great great great day!"

"Excuse Twinkletoes over here. He had too much sugar this morning." Almost as if she could see, Toph put her hand on Aang's face and pushed him away playfully.

"Scaring off the newbie already Toph?" Katara looked over at the boy sauntering over. _Whoa._ Dark brown hair fell over his chocolate brown eyes just barely. He spoke with a sort of drawl. Not southern, but like he was taking time out of his very important time to talk to you and you should feel honored. Already Katara could feel the beginnings of a crush coming on. "I'm Jet." He smiled at her and she felt the sudden uncontrollable urge to just fall into his arms and let him whisk her to wherever he wanted to.

"I'm... Katara."

"Pretty name for a pretty girl." She blushed. They heard a bell tolling behind them.

"Ah, hell calls. C'mon Katara." She let Jet lead her towards the school building as he rambled on about his friends and their exploits. She was only half paying attention and Toph followed them with Aang next to her who was watching Katara in a similar way that she was watching Jet.

He was watching her too, but from a much greater distance. She seemed like she was new too, but nobody had tried to come up and say hi to him. She probably thought she was better than him like everybody else. The world had turned its back on him and he had turned his back on the world. He began silently walking towards the school as well. Following in her footsteps.

**Sooooo? Good? Bad? Ugly? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!**


	2. Introducing Jet

**As always I don't own anything at all. Nothing whatsoever. Don't let anybody tell you any different! I really don't own it! I swear!**

"So what's your first class?" Jet was asking her a question. What was he saying? Oh right, her schedule.

"Geometry."

"Oh we have that!" Aang excitedly said as Toph outwardly sighed and inwardly smiled.

"I don't. You'll have to make do without me." With that Jet walked away towards a boyish looking girl and a tall straight-faced boy.

"He's.. well he's.."

"He's Jet Sugar Queen. Stay away from him if you know what's good for you. He's a major player." Katara thought about the younger girl's words.

"Toph's right. You should definitely stay away from Jet. He may seem really nice and he generally is to me, but he's not always so nice to girls. He lies a lot apparently." Aang put his two cents in.

"Alright, alright. Enough about Jet. Let's get to Geometry shall we?" The trio set off in the direction of the much hated class and didn't notice the sulking boy watching them.

"Are you new here too?" A swaggering boy had sauntered up to him, shaggy brown hair dusting his eyes.

"Yes."

"Weird, a girl just joined here too."

"Really."

"Yeah, so hey I'm Jet. What's your name?"

"Zuko."

"You don't talk much Zuko, do you?"

"No."

"Hmm, well do you need any help getting anything? Me and my friends are all about helping people who need help you know." He flashed a 'winning' smile at the other boy. Zuko was clearly unimpressed.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

"Ok. I'll see you around Zuko." With that Jet turned and sauntered off to whatever corner he normally inhabited. Zuko presumed to inflate his own ego further. He didn't need any help and certainly not from somebody like him. He'd been fine on his own and he would continue to be fine.

"So Katara… Where you from?" After the lesson Ms. Newman, the teacher, had given the students some time to talk quietly amongst themselves.

"Alaska."

"Alaska! Wow, have you ever seen a penguin? Have you ever gone sledding on a penguin? That sounds like fun doesn't it?" Aang was just a bundle of enthusiasm and questions.

"Um, I've seen penguins but only in zoos and I don't think that they're big enough to sled on. Besides I don't think that they'd appreciate that very much. How would you feel if you were just minding your own business doing your penguin thing and someone just made you slide down a hill? Sounds like it could hurt."

"Oh, they're penguins. They slide down hills by themselves for fun all the time, but I guess you're right. They probably aren't big enough to ride!" Aang grinned largely and Katara couldn't help but laugh at the younger boy's silliness.

"Who would want to sled on a penguin anyways? It would be way too cold." Toph chimed in.

"Oh, it's not that cold. Not if you wear a coat. Or two. And gloves. Maybe a hat. Probably a scarf. And then boots. And if you're lucky your legs don't get cold."

"Sounds like just the best place ever."

"Isn't like really really sunny there for a long time and then really really dark?" Aang jumped back in.

"Yeah, The sun's out a lot for six months and then the other six the sun's hardly out ever. I prefer the sunny months myself."

"So how are you liking it here in Iowa?"

"It seems like fun. Is it always this hot though?"

"Oh, it gets waaay hotter." Meanwhile in Chemistry…

"Hi, I'm Sokka."

"Zuko."

"Are you new here too?"

"How'd you know?"

"Well, you aren't really talking to people and sitting here kind of awkwardly. It was just a hunch. You know I'm the detective of the family so it wasn't really that hard to reason out."

"Right."

"So have you ever been in Iowa before now? Me and my sister just moved here from Alaska."

"Yes."

"So is it always this hot?"

"No, this isn't hot. This is 'nice'."

"How in the world is this not hot?"

"It's Iowa."

"So?"

"90 in the summer is normal."

"Fuck life."

"Toughen up Alaska."

"Hey, I'm plenty tough. In addition to being the detective of the family I'm also the warrior. I'm like a wolf." Sokka put on his version of a tough and intimidating face. To everybody else it just looked like… well they didn't really know what he looked like when he put on his tough and intimidating face.

"Wolves travel in packs."

"I have a pack! Me and my sister and my Dad. We're undefeatable." He puffed his chest out.

"Right."

"What about you tough guy? You a one man wolf pack?"

"Yes."

"Oh." The two teenagers sat in an awkward silence for a little bit. Sokka was about to try one of his meat jokes that never worked on his sister on Zuko when they bell rang. Sooner than Sokka could even process the fact that the bell had rung Zuko had grabbed his stuff, gotten up, and practically run out the door.

**Sorry it's soo short. Term tests man! And if you're wondering about the Iowa thing I just got out an atlas, closed my eyes, and pointed to a random state. Ta-Da! Location for AU story!**


	3. Opposites meet

**Seriously I would like to know who thinks that people who write stuff for a fan fiction site owns anything of what they're writing about. 'cause I don't own it and you don't own it and it just seems slightly ridiculous to me. Anyways, on with the story!**

It was the last class of the day and Katara had Biology. They sat at lab tables and she was stuck with the most anti-social person she had ever met. His hair was in his face and he barely even looked at her or anybody else for that matter. Their asssignment was to fill out this questionaire about their lab partner. Everybody else was already chatting it up while they just sat their kind of awkwardly. She decided to be the one to break the silence.

"So question number one is 'What's your name?' so what's your name?" She poised her pencil over the first line of their worksheet ready to write down his response.

"Zuko." He barely mumbled it. It was that new girl he had seen earlier. Why did _she_ have to be his lab partner? He had seen her periodically through the day. She was one of those people that always seemed to see the good side of every situation. He didn't always get along with those people. He always saw the bad in every situation.

"Cool name. Do you spell it.." Here it is. He got ready to correct her spelling. Nobody ever spelled his name and when people saw it written down they always mispronounced it. "..Z-U-K-O?"

"No it's... actually yes. That's how you spell my name." He seemed surprised that she had gotten the spelling right. He was actually looking at her a bit now. He had the most beautiful eyes she had every seen a boy. They were oddly yellowish and brownish so that in the right light they almost seemed like they were golden. She smiled at him.

"My name's Katara. K-A-T-A-R-A. People mispell my name all the time too. Believe me, I get how you feel." He looked at her in a new light. She was making an effort to be friendly with him. Most people gave up after he brushed them off a few times and they had spent the first few minutes in awkward silence. She had these gorgeous big blue eyes. How could he have missed those before? He wrote her name down on his paper.

"Next question then... What's your favorite color?"

"Red."

"Really? I've never understood why people like the color red. It's the color of blood and war and destruction and lust and bad sorts of things." He started at her honesty.

"I like it because it's the color of fire. While fire does destroy things it also gives new life. It clears the way of already dead things for new things to grow and make it more beautiful again." She titled her head to the side and seemed to contemplate this for a moment.

"I've never thought about it that way. I suppose that you're right."

"What's your favorite color then Katara?"

"Blue. Like the water." He laughed a bit as he wrote this down. She seemed to be his total polar opposite.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. Just how opposite we are." She thought about this too for a moment and then started to nod in agreement.

"Wow, I guess you're right. Let's keep going and see how different we really are." They completed the worksheet before everybody else and looked at the result. They didn't agree on a single topic mentioned on the assignment. He liked red. She liked blue. He liked Chinese food. She like Italian. He liked the morning. She liked the night. They were like yin and yang. They looked at the sheet and then at each other.

"I thought that we'd have agreed on at least one thing..."

"Guess not."

"Do you think that we'll get along then? If you're like fire and I'm like water how's that going to work. I'm not a genius but I know enough to know that fire and water don't really mix too well." He studied his paper for a moment. He had to agree with her on that. There was no denying how different the two of them were.

"I don't know."

"Well, I guess we'll have to see how it goes then. You game for trying to disprove physics and the fact that they don't like fire and water?" He looked up at her fully for the first time. Both of them were caught for a moment in each other's eyes. Katara felt her heart flutter around in her chest for moment like it had forgotten that it was a heart and had decided instead to be a butterfly. Zuko felt something inside of him loosen up a bit that he hadn't even known needed loosening. Then he snapped back to reality and that loose thing tightened right back up again. He gave her a small smile as he looked down again, hiding his eyes from hers.

"Love to."

**I guess this is just going to be a short chapter sort of story. Y'all know the drill R&R**


	4. Jet NOBODY LIKES YOU

**I don't own this... but you all should open up a new tab and listen to Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix doing Radioactive because it's awesome... Just saying.. I own NOTHING!**

"So how was your fist week of school?" Hakoda asked his kids as they sat down to their dinner on Friday night. It was a tradition of theirs to ask about the first week of school instead of the first day because the first day was always the same. You got a better feel for the people and how the year would shape up to be after at least a week.

"It was good. We've made some friends." The siblings had tried at first to be seperate but they were just so close. Their father was away a lot on business and their mother had passed away when they were little so Katara took care of Sokka and Sokka took care of Katara.

"Yep. Let's see.. there's Toph who's blind, but doesn't have a service dog. Aang just always follows her around and makes sure she doesn't run into things and takes notes for her and turns them into braille later. They're both in the grade below me. Then there's Jet who's in Sokka's grade." Katara began explaining the friends that they had made.

"Oh and don't forget Suki! Suki's on the martial arts team with us. So are Aang and Toph but me and Suki are in the same class."

"Your school has a martial arts team?" Hakoda sounded like this was news to him. It was. He was always preoccupied with his work. He wished he had more time for his children but he always ended up having to go here or there and sign papers or tell somebody that it was ok to do something.

"It does. Both me and Katara made it. It's where I met Suki."

"You know, you keep mentioning Suki.. You like her don't you!" Katara pointed a finger at her brother hoping to make him admit his crush. It was completely obvious to everyone that they liked each other except of course to them.

"Whaaaaat?! No, I don't." He studied his meat as he blushed.

"You're blushing. You like her. Why don't you just ask her out? Everyone can see that she likes you back." Hakoda began to tune out his teenagers' conversation and ate his dinner. He didn't understand why people denied things like that and with his son it would take quite a bit of convincing to make him ask out this other girl. Espicially after what happened with Yue at their last school.

"Ask her out? No, I couldn't do that. Don't you remember what happened the last time I asked someone out?" Yue had been his last girlfriend. She had had long shockingly white hair and deathly pale skin. She had reminded everybody of the moon. She had moved away before Katara and Sokka had. Their relationship only lasted for about another week being long distance before they decided that they couldn't have a relationship when they couldn't actually see each other. It had taken Sokka forever to get over her. Katara had been hoping that Suki would help him to get over that last little bit of him that was hanging on.

"Yes, I remember Sokka. Suki's lived here her whole life. I don't think her parents are thinking about just picking up and moving to.. where did Yue move to again?"

"She moved to Florida. She liked to joke about how maybe she'd get a tan there."

"Oh come on. We lived in Alaska, one of the sunniest states. We're both tan beyond tan. If she couldn't tan there she's not gonna tan anywhere. My point is that maybe you should give Suki a shot. Just ask her out!"

"Stop telling me what to do. Espicially in the romance department. It's not like YOU have a boyfriend!" Sokka crossed his arms and fell back against his chair and stared his sister down. He didn't like it when she gave him relationship advice. He liked it even less when she made sense and actually had good advice.

"How do you know that I don't have a boyfriend?" In truth she didn't, but she thought that she was very close to becoming Jet's girlfriend. They spent a lot of time together in school. She knew his friends now. Just that day when they had been joking around in the cafeteria during lunch he had thrown his arm over her shoulder.

"Because I know you. You don't have that annoying look you get when you get a boyfriend." He had seen how close she had been getting to that kid Jet. He'd also heard a lot about him. He didn't like what he was hearing. "Katara, I don't think you should be spending so much time with Jet. He's a player."

"How would you know? You've only known him for a week. I think he's just misunderstood.." It was her turn to study her dinner. She'd heard all the same things that Sokka had but she didn't want to believe them. Jet was nice. People just didn't get him. He really was a nice guy. All those girls were just crazy and mad and obsessed with him. That's what he said, and she believed in him. Why would he lie to her?

"I've heard a lot about him. He's not a nice guy Katara. I'm just saying that I don't think that you should get too close to him. I don't want him hurting my baby sister." She looked up at him and saw that all he really wanted to do was protect her, but she didn't need protecting.

"I can take care of myself Sokka."

oOo

_Katara I really like you._  
She was running away. Away from the words that were circling round and round in her head.  
_I want to be with you. Will you be my girlfriend?_  
It had only been a week since he had said those words to her. Why would he lie to her? She kept running. She didn't know where she was going and forgotten where she had come from. Her feet just kept carrying her away. She had wanted to surprise him, so she snuck up to his locker. That's where she saw him...  
_Katara, it didn't mean anything. It's you who I like. Katara please..._  
She had run away before he could finish his sentence. She was done with him. Everybody had warned her about him. Had told her to stay away. Why hadn't she listened? Why? Why? Why? Her questions were interrupted by her running into something. Something or maybe someone. She didn't care. She just had to get away and keep running.

"Whoa there. Katara?" A pair of warm hands grabbed her wrists as she tried pulling away. "Katara? Why are you crying?"

"What?" She looked up and was met with a familier pair of almost golden eyes.

"Why are you crying." Zuko's grip on her tightened just the tiniest bit as he repeated his question, but the question was gone from his voice. He sounded angry. The two had grown sort of close. As close as Zuko was letting her get.

"Um.. no reason." She sniffled and hoped that she wasn't crying too much. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying.

"Right. 'Cause you just cry and run outside of the school like a mad woman sooo much. Yeah, I see someone running out of control and just think 'Oh, hey, Katara does that all the time. That's just her completely.' " He was still holding her by her wrists but his touch had gentled as he gazed down at her. She sniffled agains and took a deep breath.

"I just caught Jet kissing another girl." He let her go now.

"Oh." She brought her hands up to her face and wiped away her tears. Suddenly he was struck by how much he wished that he was the one doing that. How much he hated Jet right in that moment for hurting her, and then as quickly as he had been blind-slided by this random feeling it was gone.

"Yeah.. I should've listened to my brother. He didn't trust him. I should've listened.." Another tear threatened to spill down her cheek.

"Don't you dare blame yourself for this Katara. It's his fault for not realizing what an amazing person you are. It's his loose." She looked up and smiled at her friend. Her rather emo, guarded, and dark friend that she somehow had grown close to despite their being complete opposites. She heard footsteps behind her. She knew who it was by Zuko's smile sliding away and being replaced by a look of anger.

"Katara! Why did you run away from me? Can I please explain?" She turned around to face Jet, but Zuko moved in between the two of them.

"No, you can't. You kissed another girl. You hurt her. She doesn't have to sit here and listen to your pathetic excuses."

"Zuko.." Immediately Jet was on the defensive.

"You better watch yourself. I thought you were cool. You still are. Just walk away and nobody gets hurt."

"Katara already got hurt. You better watch YOURself."

"Guys. Calm down." Katara stepped out from behind Zuko to face Jet knowing full well that he would be able to see that she had been crying and that she was still on the verge of tears. She wanted it like that. So that he could see the pain he had caused her. She would be strong depsite her tears. "Jet, we're done. It doesn't matter why you kissed her or if it didn't mean anything because you still kissed her. That's all that really matters in the end."

"But she was the one who kiss-"

"I don't care if she kissed you first. I saw you two. There was plenty of time for you to pull away and say that you had a girlfriend, but you didn't. You were holding her. I don't want to hear anymore excuses and I don't want to see you again. Go away, Jet." He was speechless. No girl had ever behaved this way towards him. Most of them listened to his explanation and accepted his apology. None of them had ever been this unreasonable. Instead of trying to reason with her though he walked away. He had seen the steel in her eyes and he knew that look. He had known her for two weeks and dated her for another week. He had seen the look plenty of times.

"Well," Zuko finally spoke after a few moments of silence after Jet had walked away without another word. "At least you only wasted a week on the sleezebag."

"Yeah. Is it time for Biology now?"

"Yes."

"Let's go then, shall we?" He smiled and started walking towards the school with her.

**OOOOh. DRAMA. Haha. You know what to do! R&R**


	5. Zuko to the rescue

**I don't own any of these characters.. sorry if they're a little OOC... I'm trying but high school does weird things to people.**

"How's my baby sister holding up?" Sokka slid onto the bench next to her. The different 'classes' were sparring and neither of the siblings were up against an opponent right then.

"She's doing fine. How'd you know?" She was still watching the match in front of her. Not trusting herself to look at her brother in case she started crying again. The coach might not let her fight if she was crying, and she needed this release.

"It's high school sis. Everybody knows a lot of useless social things in no time at all." She raised an eyebrow at him in question. They were the new kids. Nobody cared about the little details of their daily lives. "Ok, so Zuko told me."

"Zuko..." She sighed his name more than said it. He normally didn't really talk to people that much, but she could understand why he had told her brother about what had gone down before Biology. It was only a little under an hour ago. Considering what had happened she probably should be a lot more of a mess right now than she was, but Sokka knew his sister. She'd cried for a bit, she'd hit something or work out until she was tired, and then go home and take at least an hour long hot bath. When they'd lived in Alaska she'd go swimming for as long as he would let her. It was Alaska after all. Water always seemed to help her.

"Did I hear my name?" Zuko plopped down on the bench on the other side of Katara. He had also joined the marital arts team.

"Oh, look! Toph's about to spar." It was always a fun time watching Toph spar. The people who had never seen her spar always underestimated her blindness and thought that it would be an easy victory, but Toph was a formidable fighter. Not just because of how skilled she was, but because of her style. While most of the team were offensive and made the first move Toph was completely defensive. She waited for her opponent to make the first move because she had to. Her other senses had been heightened from her lack of sight, espicially her hearing. If everyone was quiet, which they usually were, she could hear their movements and dodged until they left an opening. It was kind of scary watching her fight sometimes.

"Yes, you heard your name Zuko. I just told my sister that you told me about... what had happened eariler. Oooh, Aang's her sparring partner!" Aang was the only one who ever really got close to beating her. Sometimes he even won against her. He was just so light on his feet that she couldn't hear him as well as everybody else. Hence the nickname Twinkletoes. The two launched into a series of kicks and punches. Immediately the three turned back to each other. Those two only had three types of fights and they could recognize which was which in the beginning. Toph winning, a tie, or Aang winning. This one would be a tie.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Zuko turned to look at Katara and saw her still studying the two of their friends sparring. She hadn't looked at him or her brother since Zuko had sat down. Normally she was very attentative to her friends and looked at them when they spoke. She may not be crying anymore but he could tell that she was hurting inside.

"Do you guys maybe... want to do something today after school? My uncle gave me a jeep and I have a license so we could go like anywhere you want." Sokka looked at his sister. It was completely up to her.

"Well, I was just planning on going home and taking a bath..." She looked down at her hands. She hated to disappoint her friends.

"C'mon sis. It could be fun to go out. When was the last time that we actually went out together?"

"Like, outside, or out on the town?" She gave him her sort of sideways smile so he knew that she was being rhetorical.

"C'mon sis. Zuko's offering a fun time with transportation. You can't quite drive yet and you know that Dad would never let me borrow the car again after what happened last time."

"What happened last time?" Zuko wanted to know.

"He crashed it into a pole. Where would we even go? What would we even do?" She finally turned to look at Zuko. He could see the pain that she was holding deep in her cerulean eyes.

"I didn't crash into a pole! It came out of nowhere anyways."

"We could go bowling... or see a movie... or eat pizza...?" He ended his list of suggestions with a question like he wasn't quite sure if any of them were really good ideas. Katara looked back to the match in front of them. Their coach called time. Sure enough, the two had tied.

"There'll be one more match today before we break. Volunteers?" The coach called out.

"Katara and Zuko." Sokka called out from their seat on the bench. The two friends looked at him incredulously. They were two of the only students who had never actually fought against each other. "What? If Zuko wins then we go out tonight. If Katara wins then she gets to take her bath. Deal?" They looked at each other and nodded. They climbed up onto the mat.

"Bow." They bowed. "Fight." They both took up their stances.

"You know what I just realized?" Zuko asked her as they began to circle each other, stalling so that they didn't have to actually fight just yet.

"What?"

"I've never actually seen you fight." If she had seen him fight then this would put him at a serious disadvantage. He didn't know her style. He didn't know her strengths and weaknesses.

"Same goes for me." So then they were equal. Neither knew what they were up against. Katara was easily underestimated because she was a girl and therefore wasn't very big. Zuko was underestimated a lot because he wasn't the buffest guy in the room, but both of them were strong in their own way. They both threw out a few punches to test the waters. Katara adding a few low kicks.

"Actually that's not true. I've seen you finish a fight." Zuko remembered the one time he had seen her fight.

"Which one was that?" She asked him as he launched a flying kick towards her head and she ducked and rolled around to spring up behind him in a ready stance. She punched him lightly at the base of his spine so that he face planted while he was still slightly off balanced from jumping at her.

"The one with that prick who thinks that girls shouldn't fight."

"Oh yea, that one. What's his name?"

"I forget." They started to stop pulling their punches and began to actually spar. The distance between the two started closing as Zuko realized that she was better when she had room to pull back her arms and legs for more power.

"Right... when'd you come in then?"

"When you yelled 'you can't knock me down!' I've never seen you so mad. You really were almost knocked over though. I didn't know that people could bend that way." She laughed at him as he grabbed her wrists so that she couldn't punch him anymore.

"You think that this is gonna stop me?" She tried pulling out of his grip at first and soon realized that his grip was like iron but he wasn't hurting her.

"I thought I would try it." He gave her what the two had named 'smolder.' Whenever he gave it to other girls they would simply swoon. Instead of making Katara swoon it had become like a private joke between the two. She sighed and dropped down to the ground taking him with her. Throwing out a leg she knocked him over. Flipping herself over him she wrenched her wrists from his hands. She brought her heel down on top of his chest knocking the air out of his lungs. He coughed. "Remind me never to underestimate you."

"Did you?" She stood aside as he got up. She wasn't allowed to help him up, but could let him get up if she so chose to.

"No, but if I ever do in the future please feel free to just put me in my place." She laughed at him as he rubbed his chest and resumed a fighting stance.

"I'd be glad to."

"Alright, please forgive me. I'm going to try very hard now to win because I want you and Sokka to come out and have fun with me. Ready?"

"I was born ready."

oOo

"It's not funny!" Sokka kept insisting. Zuko had, in fact, won and now they were sitting in the bowling alley eating some pizza before they went bowling. Nobody had thought of anything better to do so they had just stuck with Zuko's original idea. Katara had just finished telling the full story on how Sokka had run into a pole.

"Sokka.. It's hilarious!" Zuko laughed out at him.

"You only think it's hilarious because it hasn't happened to you." Sokka harumphed and sat back into his chair.

"Oh, Sokka lighten up. You can always tell him about how you earned the title detective of the family." Her brother visibly perked up and leaned forward with a smile on his face getting prepared to tell the story.

"Well see it all started when the jerky went missing..."

**Phew... hope y'all like it. :)**


	6. Asking guys out

**Soooo much typing going on over here! I was neglecting this and one of my other stories and now I'm writing like a chapter a day! Y'all should appreciate this! Again, I don't own ATLA.**

"Suki!" The brunette snapped her head up and looked at her bubbly friend Ty Lee. They had taken quite a road to get to where they were, but Azula was gone now and Ty Lee and Maie were free. Of course, her parents had moved Mai to somewhere different to have a fresh start. It was going to be hard for her to make friends with new people though. Mai was rather gloomy and unexpressive.

"Hey, Ty Lee! What's up?" They were in History. One of the many classes they had together and also with... Sokka.

"Well I was just thinking about that Sadie Hawkins dance this Friday..."

"Oh yea! Have you asked anyone yet?" Suki loved the Sadie Hawkins dance. It was nice once in a while to let the boys have to sit there and wait for the girls to ask them. Girl Power man!

"No, not yet, but I was thinking that maybe you should ask Sokka!"

"Sokka?! Why would I ask him?" In truth she really wanted to ask him. He was kind of annoying with his stupid meat jokes and the fact that he thought that men should protect women when she'd beaten him in more than half of their sparring sessions. It was easy until she began to teach him how to actually fight. For one reason or another though she'd fallen for him.

"Because you like him silly! And he likes you back. I can tell. You should totally ask him!" Suki looked at the other girl for a moment and tried to resist the urge to be like other girls but finally she couldn't help it any more.

"You really think he likes me?" She looked down at her notebook and blushed as she asked this.

"Everybody knows he does! Everybody but you that is. And everybody knows you like him back. Except for him. You two... you're in skinny love!"

"What the heck in skinny love?"

"When two people love each other, are too shy to admit it, but still show it."

"That sounds like you quoted Urban Dictionary."

"Which I just did, but it's totally true! You should totally ask him!"

"I don't know..."

"Look there he is! Now's your perfect chance to do it! C'mon get up, walk over there and ask him to the dance!" Sure enough Sokka was walking in the door. They only had a minute or two left before class. It was now or never. Suki gathered up what courage she had and walked over to Sokka's desk.

"Hey Suki!" Everybody could see the two out of the corner of their eye. Ty Lee was openly watching them and she knew that Suki couldn't see it but Sokka had just compltely brightened at seeing her. They were TOTALLY in love!

"H-Hi Sokka." She was playing with the bottom of her shirt and not looking him in the eye. Classic nervous Suki signs, and Sokka was picking up on it.

"You ok?"

"What? Oh, yea. I just... had a question for you."

"A question? Well alright, shoot." He turned in his desk to face her completely. Totally oblivious to the inner turmoil and nervousness in her. He wasn't thinking about the Sadie Hawkin's dance. He was just thinking about the girl that he liked standing in front of him wanting to ask him a question.

"Um.. Well I was just wondering if... you'd maybe like to go with me to the Sadie Hawkin's dance this Friday?" He was taken aback by her question. Sure, Katara had been going on and on about how awesome it was that guys couldn't ask girls to the dance and her wondering who she should ask since she wasn't with Jet anymore, but he hadn't thought about who might ask him to the dance, let alone the girl he was crushing on. So this was why she was acting all nervous instead of her usual confident self.

"Yea... Yea I would Suki." He smiled up at her and waited for her to stop playing with her shirt and being nervous.

"Really? Awesome!" He chuckled a little and would've gotten up to give her a hug but the teacher decided then to walk into the room and demand that everyone take their seats. "Well, see ya later Sokka."

"Yea.. see you Suki."

Halfway through class, during worktime, a folded up peice of paper landed on Suki's desk. She looked up at the only person who folded her notes into oragami things. This time it was a little wolf like thing. Her friend looked back at her and nodded encouragingly. Suki opened the note and was accosted by Ty Lee's big curly-cue handwriting.

_Finally! You have to come over so that we can go shopping! And I'm doing your make up! You have NO CHOICE in the matter!_

This was followed by a bunch of X's and O's and little hearts and a little doodle of what Suki could only assume was her and Sokka. She laughed a little at her friends antics. She was way too cheerful, but that was why she loved her. Suki looked up again at Ty Lee with a smile and nodded.

oOo

"Hey Aang have you seen Zuko?" She had been looking for him all day. They only had Biology together, but she didn't want to wait till then. She had a question to ask him.

"No, not today, but I have a present for you!" The younger boy had been crushing on her ever since he saw her that first day and he had finally decided to tell her how he felt. Well, not so much as tell her but rather show her.

"A present? But why?" It wasn't her birthday or any sort of holiday. Nobody else was either giving or recieving presents today. Why did he want to give her a present?

"Because you're awesome! Now, close your eyes." Happily she obliged to Aang's request. What harm can come from a present? Her mind was racing through all the possibilities that it could be. Nothing could've prepare her for what happened next though. Suddenly she felt warm lips pressing against hers. Were they Aang's? She opened her eyes immediately to confirm that it was, in fact, Aang. No sooner had she opened her eyes then she pulled away from him and backed up a few steps.

"Aang! What are you doing?"

"Well, I thought I was kissing you." He gazed up at her with innocent eyes. He'd thought that that's what she wanted. What they both wanted. She was nice to him and smiled at him when he talked. Everyone said that she obviously liked him and that he liked her back. Why was she acting like she didn't want to kiss him?

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to. Because everybody says that we like each other and I like you. Don't you like me?" He tilted his head to the side in confusion. He was only twelve. He didn't quite understand the inner thought processes of girls just quite yet.

"I do Aang, but not like that. I like you like a brother. That's all."

"Oh." He looked down at the floor in disappointment. She felt sad for the younger boy. She couldn't just leave him there with his hopes crushed.

"But you know who I think likes you?"

"Who?"

"Toph." She smiled and hoped that it didn't look like the kind of smile that made him think that she liked him and was just lying to him about the not liking him part. He seemed surprised by this.

"Really? You really think that Toph likes me? I thought she liked.. I don't know who I thought she liked. She doesn't really seem like she likes anybody to me."

"Does it? Hm, I guess that's just the type of girl that Toph is. She likes to make people think that she doesn't like anybody when she really does. She's probably just scared of ruining your friendship. You two seem really close."

"We are. I'm her eyes when she needs them and she calms me down when I need it."

"See? Maybe you don't like her yet, but in time... maybe?"

"Yea... maybe. I've got to go now. Bye Katara!" He waved at her and took off running down the hallway towards Toph's locker. Their next class was together and he always walked with her to the door.

"Now where's Zuko..." She muttered to herself as she stood in the hallway completely dumbfounded as to where to look for him. She only had to stand there for a moment though before he, in fact, found her.

"Katara? Why are you just standing in the middle of the hallway?" She spun around to face her friend and immediately she smiled at him. Just seeing him made her day better. He was like her own personal little sunshine. Even if they were total opposites, she looked forward to Biology everyday just because they got to talk and hang out then. They always got their work done fast and then had the rest of the time to talk.

"Well, I was actually looking for you." He had been pleasantly surprised to find her just standing there. He hadn't actually spoken at first beacuse it was just fun for him to watch her stand there. She was cute when she was confused. Just seeing her made him smile. She'd done so much for him, brought him out of his shell, given him friends, and made him happy. He couldn't remember the last time that he had been happy. His favorite class was definitely Biology.

"Why were you looking for me?"

"I have a question to ask you." She was walking towards him as he was walking towards her and soon enough they were only a few inches apart. Nothing too close but most definitely very comfortable for the two teens.

"A question that couldn't wait until Biology?"

"Nope." She smiled slyly up at him. Where was all this playfullness coming from? Normally when she had to confront people she was totally nervous, but with Zuko it just felt like second nature.

"Alright, so are you going to ask me this all important question?"

"Will you go to the Sadie Hawkin's dance with me?" Did she really just say that?

"I would love to." Did he really just say that?

"Great, well I've got to go to class. See you in Biology." And then she just walked away like she didn't have a care in the world. Like she wasn't screaming inside. He walked to his next class as if nothing had happened. Like he wasn't dying inside. Like he wasn't replaying that conversation over and over again in his head. Everyone noticed the silly grins playing with Katara's, Sokka's, Suki's, and Zuko's mouths and nobody had any doubt as to what that meant.

oOo

"Hey Katara." It was Algebra. The one class Katara and Suki had together.

"Hey Suki." She slid into the spot next to Suki.

"So I have something to tell you." They both said at the same time and then laughed. "Ok, you go first." Again they had spoken at the same time and again they laughed. "No, you! Oh my god stop it!" They were having a giggle fit and probably would have until Katara put her hand over Suki's mouth.

"Ok, you tell me first and then I'll tell you ok?" Suki nodded. "Ok.. go!"

"I asked your brother to the dance!"

"Really?" Suki had long since told Katara and instead of Katara being freaked out, like Suki had feared, she was excited for the other girl. She encouraged and supported Suki completely. "That's awesome! He said yes right? Well of course he said yes! Why am I even asking?"

"Yes, he said yes."

"That would explain that ridiculous grin of yours." Both girls laughed again.

"So what do you have to tell me?"

"Just that I have a date to the dance too." Katara smiled shyly at her friend.

"Who? Who? Who?"

"Zuko." Katara blushed when she said his name.

"Zuko? Oh I SO knew that you liked him! Why didn't you tell me you liked him before? Here I go prattling on and on about your brother! Why didn't you tell me?!" Suki playfully punched her friend on the shoulder.

"It just... never came up I guess. I didn't even really realize that I liked him until just a little bit ago." It had been a few weeks after the incident with Jet. It had taken her that long to realize just what Zuko had done for her then. He had protected her and then afterwards had cheered her up. He had been one of the best friends that she had ever had, even if he had a bit of a temper and closed up tighter than a clam around other people.

"So you asked him and he said yes?"

"That's generally how you get a date to a dance Suki." She laughed a little bit as she teased her friend.

"You have to come over to Ty Lee's with me! We can all get ready together! It'll be so much fun!"

"It sounds like fun. What about Toph? I have a feeling that she isn't very girly much and this might be our only chance to make her be!"

"Sounds like a plan! I'll have to double check with Ty lee to make sure that it's ok though. I bet that it'll be ok though. Ty Lee loves people."

"I know, she's in my Home Room. Nobody can ever get her to stop talking! But she's totally adorable like a little puppy."

"Isn't she though?" The girls laughed as the teacher told everyone to quiet down and take their seats.

"This is going to be the best dance ever!" Suki whispered to Katara as the lesson started.

**Does anyone else notice that the chapters are getting longer? 'Cause I do. Just saying. Oooooh. Does anyone else smell drama? . Little bit of Taang and... do Sokka and Suki have a little mash up name? Oh well... SADIE HAWKIN'S DANCE! R&R**


	7. Sadie Hawkins Dance

**Sorry this took so long. :\ I kept trying to write the girls being girly and getting ready and stuff and I just... I'm just not girly and I don't have all that many friends that like to be girly so I was just like wa...? What do girls even do all that time in the bathroom? It's weird... Anyways... Hope you like it . (Do you guys know how long it takes to describe someone's appearence. A freakin long time) I DON'T OWN IT! I DON'T OWN KATARA, ZUKO, SOKKA, SUKI, TOPH, AANG, TY LEE, HAKODA, IROH, OR SOME RANDOM DUDE FROM THAT TIME THAT TY LEE WENT TO THE BEACH WITH ZUKO, MAI, AND AZULA.**

"...oh." Zuko, Sokka, some random guy nobody knew, and Aang were standing at the bottom of the staircase watching Katara, Suki, Ty Lee, and Toph descend. Katara was wearing a cerulean blue short dress that had reminded all the girls of a princess dress. The straps that went over her shoulder liked to slip down her arms, but that was ok because the bodice of the dress clung to her chest and stomach. Material flowed away from her waist and the dress stopped just before her knees. She had black eye liner framing her eyes and just a touch of lip gloss. Her hair was curled and let down out of the braid she liked to put it in sometimes. Suki had an emerald green halter top on that revealed her flat stomach and a flowing skirt that matched her top in color hung low on her hips and stopped mid-shin. There wasn't much you could do with her short brown hair except straighten it. The hair on either side of her face had been pulled back with sparkly green clip. Suki had on a bit more make up then Katara. She had a little blush, yellow mixing with green eye shadow, brown eye liner, and black mascara on. Her lips were painted red. Ty Lee was wearing a knee length soft pink dress. It followed the curves of her body without sticking to her skin. Her hair was still in a long braid with her bangs left down but she did have lip gloss, pink eye shadow, and a little bit of rosy blush. Toph wasn't happy. The girls had pulled her hair back from her face with a head band. At least they hadn't gotten her into a skirt. She was wearing big flowy shorts that almost looked like a skirt until she walked and a tank top. Her shorts were dark green and her tank top was the same color with yellow designs on it. The girls had talked her into some eye liner and green eye shadow but that was it. All four girls had on black ballet flats.

"Speechless are you?" Katara coyly asked her date. The boys had done variations of the same ensemble. Dark jeans, Zuko's had rips in them, and a shirt. Mystery guy, presumably Ty Lee's date, had on a white button shirt. He was the only one with what appeared to be combed hair that was blonde. Aang's black hair **(AN: Yes Aang has hair. Like he has for the entirety of season three. It's also the season I went off of for people's personalities... Cept Aang...)** was disheveled as always. He had on a green shirt to go with Toph's outfit. Zuko's button up shirt was a blood red. Leaving the top two buttons undone his hair fell into his eyes like always. Sokka still had his hair pulled back in his 'warrior's tail' because he said he looked sort of ridiculous with his hair down. Katara didn't know what he was talking about. His shirt was dark blue that still somehow went with Suki's green attire. The guys had just put on whatever sneakers they normally wore.

"For the most part, yes." Zuko walked forward and helped Katara down the last few steps even though she didn't need it. He kept holding her hand as they moved to the side to let the other guys help their respective girls. Aang sort of failed with Toph though seeing as how she shouted something about being blind, not an invalid and that she could make it down a few more stairs without his help. Aang didn't stop smiling and slipped his arm over her shoulders. Toph blushed but let his arm stay there. It had come as a little bit of a shock to the other girls when she told them that she had asked Aang. They didn't think that she was going to do something like admit her feelings for him anytime soon. Let alone ask him to a dance. She had merely shrugged off their reactions.

"You look beautiful Katara." He hadn't taken his eyes off of her the whole time.

"Thanks Zuko. You look pretty handsome too." She smiled up at him. She still couldn't quite believe how well this was all going. His hand was warm in her cool one. They were opposites. They had known that from the beginning. He was like a hot fire while she was a cool stream. They shouldn't be able to work and yet they somehow did. Sokka coughed as he tried to compliment Suki but couldn't quite get the words out.

"Thanks Sokka. You like nice too." She smiled at her date as he smiled gratefully down at her. Ty Lee and her date were almost lost in their own little world. Ty Lee just being her usual bubbly, ditzy, cute self while he stood there floundering for words.

"If you tell me I look nice I'm going back upstairs and changing. I'm wiping this stupid make up off too." Toph grumbled from underneath Aang's arm.

"You looke nice Toph. Please don't go change." He looked down at her with big brown puppy dog eyes. She was three seconds away from storming upstairs and staying up there for the rest of the night when Suki intervened.

"Ok guys! Let's hit it!" They stood patiently as Hakoda, Zuko's Uncle Iroh, Ty Lee's parents, Suki's parents, Toph's parents, and a random couple nobody knew took pictures. After that was done Katara and Suki herded Toph into the car without letting her go change. Their dates followed slowly behind them.

"You really do look nice though Suki." Sokka finally got the words out and she laughed at him. "What?" He seemed offended and everybody knew that he wasn't acting.

"It's just cute the way you couldn't talk and now you can."

"Well as long as it's cute..." The teenagers laughed. Ty Lee's family owned a van that they were all currently in so that they could go to and from the dance together. The boy's had their own cars, besides Aang who had gotten a ride from Sokka, parked outside of Ty Lee's house for transportation home when they were done at the dance. Zuko had opted to drive the van being the eldest which put Katara in the passenger seat.

"Hey Zuko?"

"Yea?"

"Do you even wanna go to the dance?" Her question startled him. It was true that he didn't exactly like loud music and dancing but if it was something that she wanted to go to he was willing to go as well. Besides, maybe it would be fun.

"If you wanna go then I'll go with you. No, a high school dance is not my first choice of something fun but if it's with you I'm sure it'll be the best dance I've ever been to." He reached across the gap and grabbed her hand.

"Have you even been to any dances?"

"Well... no." Katara laughed. And then they were at the dance.

oOo

"Alright, guys grab your girl. Girls find your man because we're gonna slow it down now." The DJ called out across the sea of sweaty teenagers packed into the gym.

"Zuko. C'mere." Katara tried pulling her date out of his chair. He had found one and sat in it the entire dance up until now and she wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Katara. I told you. I don't dance."

"Please?" She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. She knew he wouldn't be able to resist her.

"Please Sokka?" Suki was having a similiar conversation with Sokka a little ways away.

"Suki... I don't know..."

"Katara.. you know I hate that face."

"The music's starting." She reached forward and grabbed his hands in hers and gently pulled on them.

"C'mon I really wanna dance with you Sokka."

"I'm not a very good dancer Suki."

"I don't care." She could feel that she so close to getting him to dance with her. Just a little bit more... She gingerly tugged on his hands.

"Fine." Zuko surrendered and got up. He let her lead him to a spot on the dance floor.

"Alright." Suki pulled him to the dance floor and looped her arms around his neck as they began to sway closer and closer together.

"Um... I don't know..."

"Here like this." Katara pulled his arms around her and placed his hands on the small of her back. Zuko's face reddened as they got closer. Katara put her arms around his neck and they began to sway back and forth in time with the song.

_You know I'd fall apart without you.  
I don't know how you do what you do.  
'Cause everything that don't make sense about me  
Makes sense when I'm with you._

"We can move a little closer you know.. If you want." Katara quietly let Zuko know. She knew that even if he wanted to he wouldn't do anything that might make her uncomfortable and Lord knows how oblivious guys are to all the little cues that girls give them. He smiled a bit and pulled her into him so that there was hardly any space between them. She leaned into him and put her head on his chest.

_Like everything that's green girl, I need you  
But it's more than one and one makes two.  
Put aside the math and the logic of it  
You gotta know you're wanted too._

Zuko thought about the girl he was holding close to him. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and rested his chin on the top of her head. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms, to call her his, and to hold her hand forever. He wanted to kiss her. He couldn't remember the last time he had really wanted to kiss a girl. With a start he realized his thoughts were echoing the song. He wanted her to know that he wanted her around. She wasn't just there to keep him calm 'cause Lord knew he needed to somebody to help keep him calm, and he didn't know how to do that.

_Anyone can tell you you're pretty, yeah  
You get that all the time, I know you do.  
But your beauty's deeper than the make-up  
And I wanna show you what I see tonight._

A few feet away Sokka was having some similiar thoughts about the girl he held in his arms. Instinctively he pulled her ever closer to him and bent down just a little bit so that their foreheads were touching. He wanted her to know that he cared about her.

"Sokka? What are you thinking about? Are you thinking..."

"Suki."

"Yea?"

"You talk too much." With that he closed the distance down to her lips and pressed his against hers. For a moment she didn't know what to do then her eyes closed and she kissed him back. Her arms tightened around his neck as his arms tightened around her waist. Both pulled the other to them. Trying to drink each other in.

_When I wrap you up  
When I kiss your lips.  
I wanna make you feel wanted.  
And I wanna call you mine  
Wanna hold your hand forever  
And never let you forget it.  
'Cause baby I, I wanna make you feel wanted._

Katara wanted him to kiss her, but she didn't know how to tell him that was what she wanted without actually verbally telling him and she didn't want to do that. She looked up at him and found that he was already looking down at her. What she found in his eyes surprised her. She found affection and wanting, those were not what surprised her. What surprised her was the depth of those emotions. What surprised her was the pain she found in his guarded eyes. The uncertainty. Some sort of problem that he seemed to be facing and it broke her heart to see him trying to figure it out on his own. She wanted nothing more than to help him. To let him know how she felt about him.

Zuko wanted to kiss her, but he didn't know if that would cross some line that she didn't want him to cross yet. Girls were impossible to figure out and Zuko had long since given up on trying to ever understand them. He had been looking down at her trying to figure out if he should kiss her or not when she looked turned and looked up at him. He was taken aback by her beautiful blue eyes. At first all he could see in here baby blues was contenment, affection, and a little desire but as they held each other's gaze he noticed a certain sadness. It hadn't been there before he knew.

"Why are you sad Katara?"

"Why are you in pain Zuko?" Instead of answering his question she asked him one of her own.

"Well I can't figure something out and you're sad. Why are you sad?" He knew better than to try and dodge the question or somehow answer it without actually answering it. She would see through him in a second and wouldn't forget it until he answered her. She was as stubborn as he was.

"Because you're in pain. What can't you figure out?" The song was pretty much over but neither had the intention of moving from their position in the slightest bit.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you or not."

"Tell me. Please?" They weren't swaying anymore. Zuko had his arms wrapped completely around her. He hadn't realized until then just how small she really was. She was cool to his touch. She felt nice pressed against him. She had her arms wrapped around her shoulders and neck. He felt warm to her. It was comfortable for her to be surrounded by him. His warmth, his smell, just him. She hadn't known how strongly she felt about him, but every moment spent in his arms brought her closer to the truth. Some fast and upbeat song began playing, but neither moved.

"I was wondering if I should kiss you or not." He broke eye contact with her then and looked off to the side as a slight blush covered his cheeks.

"Zuko." He turned to look at her again as she stood up on tiptoe and kissed him. He blinked in surprise but didn't move. Her hands moved up onto his head and her fingers entwined themselves in his long shaggy hair. He shuddered a bit at her touch and he felt her smile. He smiled back and closed his own eyes. He kissed her back and wrapped his arms even tighter around her middle. A sigh of contentment escaped her lips and he nearly laughed but Zuko wasn't a very laughy kind of guy. He broke their kiss and rested his forehead on hers as she tried to catch her breath.

"Katara. Girlfriend?" He could barely manage the one word as a question.

"Obviously." They smiled as they peered at each other from behind lowered and bashful eye lashes.

"Hey Toph..."

"I'm not dancing with you Aang."

**Phew. DONE! with this chapter... I think we need to see Zuko be more of his sulky and emo self. He's too cheery... Well... too cheery too much of the time. What'd y'all think of that huh? Heads up... I think Mai's gonna make an appearence soonish . You know you love love triangles. I know, I know we already kind of have one but I. Don't. Care. You know the drill you lovely people you. R&R (Song was Wanted by Hunter Hayes. Don't own that either btw)**


	8. Of beaches and visits

**Obviously I don't own ATLA or Zutara would've been canon. Have you ever noticed that lying down in a random spot on your back with your knees bent and up and looking at the sky is like the perfect postition to contemplate life? 'cause I have. Enjoy . Also sorry if I'm off base but I picture Zuko as liking rock 'n roll. So I don't own AC DC.**

It had been three weeks since the Sadie Hawkins Dance, and Katara was in her favorite spot. Her favorite spot being the passenger seat of Zuko's jeep with all the windows down and music blaring. She laughed as Zuko remained, for the most part, pretty expressionless. It wasn't that he was all bottled up anymore. He just wasn't a very expressive person. Unless he was angry she amended her own thought process but she didn't mind. She knew him and she knew that no amount of her pestering him to tell her something he didn't want to tell her was going to make him tell her. She just had to leave him alone to tell her when he wanted to which was absolute torture for her, but she did it anyway.

_For those about to rock FIRE! we salute you. _

She laughed as she heard gunshots over the sound system of his jeep. They had just left her house and were going to his house. It was a Friday afternoon. Neither of them had any homework and Katara had convinced Zuko that going to a beach was a good idea. Of course they were still in Iowa so they were limited to the beach of a lake Red Rock, but that was still good.

_For those about to rock FIRE! we salute you._

She had thrown a blue razor back tank on over her bikini top and dark jeans. The weather was getting cool, but still not too cold for Katara. Flip flops thrown into the back because who likes shoes? Her hair was down and wildly blowing around her head. Zuko kept stealing glances at her out of the corner of his eye. He didn't get how she wasn't cold. He was wearing his favorite black hoodie and black jeans with his sneakers. Nevertheless he loved it when they drove around like this. He felt like he was getting to see Katara in a way that some people didn't get too. Most people saw her as this big worrier who took care of people and tried her hardest at everything. She didn't always just let go and have fun. He didn't either, so it was good for the both of them when they did. A small smile graced his lips as he turned the last corner to get to his house. Katara and Iroh got along amazingly well. The first time they'd met he'd been nervous since his uncle tended to say random things that nobody really understood or break into random songs that nobody knew, but Katara adored his uncle and it was clear that his uncle liked her just as much. The two always had interesting conversations, and Zuko couldn't wait to find out what they'd discuss today. He paled a little when he saw his driveway though. The smile slipped away. There was an extra car there. One he'd hoped he wouldn't ever really see again.

"Hey Zuko whose car is that? I don't recognize it." He didn't respond to her. Instead he rolled up all the windows and turned the music without finishing the song.

"Zuko? What's wrong?"

"That's Mai's car." Immediately Katara sat back in her seat and was quiet. They'd talked about Mai at great length. Zuko's last girlfriend. The one who was even more expressionless than him. The one that he'd loved. The girl who had been scarred by his sister. She knew that there was still probably more about her that he hadn't told her.

"Do you want me to go home?"

"What? No. I have no idea why she's here. We're still going to the beach Katara." He reached over and grabbed her hand as he pulled into his driveway and killed the engine. She tried to give him a reassuring smile but she could tell that he wasn't really all that reassured. They climbed out and made their way to the front door Zuko gripping her hand for support the entire way. Neither of them had any idea what this meeting was going to do to Zuko or Mai psychologically or how she was going to react to Katara.

"Just let me see him!"

"He's not here. Please do come again though Mai. You're always welcome here." They could hear what sounded like Iroh trying to diffuse an argument from the front door.

"Well if he's not here then where is he? I need to see him!" Zuko gently led Katara to the living room where his ex and his uncle were. Iroh was sitting calmly on his chair while Mai was standing over him threateningly.

"I'm here Mai. Question is, why are you here?" The girl looked up suddenly at him and stopped scowling for a moment. Then she saw the girl he had behind him and that they were holding hands. That used to be _her_ spot. Who was this tan, barefoot, tank top wearing girl?

"Who's she?" The pale girl jerked her chin towards Katara. She couldn't help but be intimidated by this new girl. She looked a lot more like Zuko. She was pale like him, but paler still. Her eyes weren't golden but they held the same shape as his as opposed to Katara's big blue eyes. Her hair was long and jet black. Neatly brushed and pulled back from her face. She wore a red and black sweater and black skinny jeans. Apparentlly she got cold like Zuko did as well. Obviously Mai and Zuko were supposed to be together. They seemed so similar. Both of them even had the same way of scowling.

"Hi." Katara stood out from behind her boyfriend. "I'm Katara. You must be Mai. I've heard a lot about you."

"Zuko, who is she?" Mai kept her gaze locked on Zuko's completely ignoring Katara and pretending like she hadn't even spoken at all.

"She's my girlfriend." He explained as Katara decided that being behind Zuko might just be the best place for her to be right then. She half expected her to just start throwing knives at her.

"I'm your girlfriend."

"No, we broke up remember?" Apparently that was the wrong thing to say to her because, without warning, Mai rushed towards Zuko only to stop an inch or two away from him and pulled a rather crinkly, smudged, faded, and old piece of paper out from behind her back and shoved it in his face. You call this a break up? You don't break up with a girl like me like this!"

"Well I did Mai. Accept it. I moved on. Katara's my girlfriend now."

"Oh, is she?" Mai now turned to Katara to acknowledge her. "Has he told you he loves you yet? 'Cause he told me he loved me. He doesn't mean it when he says it." She was completely expressionless now. Her voice was a raspy monotone. "Just thought that I'd let you know he's only gonna break your heart." With that she pushed past Katara and Zuko. Neither of them moved as they heard her close the door quietly, start her car, and drive away.

"Are you ok?" Katara immediately turned to Zuko and peered up at his face. He was looking off to the side with his dark hair in front of his eyes.

"I'm just gonna go change real quick." He left her standing there speechless in his hallway.

"Try not to worry too much about my nephew." Iroh spoke from under his tea cup. The old man was constantly drinking tea Katara had come to find out. "He can take care of himself."

"I know he can, but he doesn't always have to. Does he know that do you think?"

"Zuko likes to be on his own. He doesn't want to feel like a burden to anyone. His father was constantly telling him that he wasn't as smart or as athletic or as talented as his sister. That he needed to try harder so he thinks that he needs to be smarter, more athletic. He wants to try his hardest at everything. He's so focused on being better sometimes he doesn't see that he needs to let somebody help him. Maybe you can help him to see that it's not always so bad to accept help." By the end of Iroh's speech Zuko had made his way downstairs in some black athletic shorts, sandals in hand, and still the slightly torn black hoodie he took with him everwhere he went.

"Ready to go Katara?"

"Ready if you are." She rose from her seat on the couch and walked over to where he was waiting for her near the front door.

"Goodbye Uncle."

"Have fun at the beach you two."

"Goodbye Iroh." And then they walked out the door and towards his jeep. Katara knew better than to try and talk to him about Mai. She'd just give him his silence. She knew all too well sometimes that you just needed some time to yourself to think about things, and Zuko was definately the silent and brooding type. It might be some time before things returned to normal.

"C'mon. Let's get to the beach. The water has healing powers." She winked at him and he couldn't help but give her a world wary smile as he climbed back into the driver's seat and turned key in the ignition. He rolled the windows down for her again and they blared their music. After the hour long drive to get to the beach they found it nearly empty. He found a stretch of empty beach and parked in front of it. Slowly he got out of his jeep and watched as Katara all out sprinted for the water, shedding her clothes as she went. It was getting close to dusk as Zuko leisurely walked towards the shore and grabbed her jeans and tank top. He found a spot halfway down the beach to the water and set his rump down in the sand. He watched as Katara played around in the water and occasionally called for him to come in. He wanted to but he still didn't know what to make of Mai. He kept running through their conversation in his head. In his head he broke into her house again and again and left that letter on her bedside table next to her phone where she was sure to see it when she woke up. He remembered all the times that she had texted him and called him that morning and then abruptly stopped. He'd already been in the car listening to the playlist she had made him on his iPod one last time before he deleted it. She had never been good at telling him what she thought so she had taken to just telling him to listen to certain songs that described what she was feeling. He didn't notice Katara getting out of the car or walking past him or messing with something in his jeep. He did however notice when she turned the headlights on, it was already dark enough that they made a difference, and started playing some lovey dovey romantic song. They'd never been the most romantic couple so he was slightly surprised by her. She walked towards him in the light and he sucked in a breath. She was still dripping wet and her rather small swimsuit was clinging to her body. Her long tangled hair was still just as beautiful as it always was.

"Get up Zuko." Without a word he did as he was told. She looked like an angel to him just then. A rather scantily clad angel that looked well... HOT. Gently she grabbed his hands and led him into the surf. Only up to their knees. Then she put his hands on the small of her back and looped her arms around his neck.

"What're you doing Katara?" He finally found his voice after several dry swallows.

"_We_ are dancing. I told you the water has healing powers but it doesn't work if you're not in it." He laughed at her. She smiled up at him as he finally locked gazes with her.

"You are something else. Did you know that?"

"I did." She stretched up and kissed him sweetly. She was here for him and she wanted him to know that. He kissed her back just as sweetly as a way of letting her know that he knew she was there and to let her know that he was here for her too when she needed him.

"I don't think this water has the healing powers. The healing part is all you Katara. It's all completely you." He pulled her close and they danced. They danced in the water for hours and he forgot Mai. Not completely, but he let her go. She was in his past and Katara was his present. She was his future. He wouldn't let what had happened before ruin what he had now.

**Jeezum. That took forever. I hope I did Mai justice... She's a little OOC but you know I think that that might just be how she'd react to something like that. Cuz remember her whole 'but don't ever break up with me again' thing at the end there? She DOES feel emotions. Lovers you guys!**


	9. Come Wake Me Up

**Hmmm... might be the last chapter just now. Maybe one more, but yea. Thought I'd prepare y'all. THE END IS NEAR! I promise I'm not crazy. . Well I don't own ATLA still. Enjoy. Oh and sorry bout not warning you bout the Taang, but somebody had to be with Aang and I don't like Toph being all alone all the time sooooo yea. Ok now I'm done with the disclaimer. ON TO THE STORY.**

"Katara, why are you coming home so late?" It was two thirty in the morning and her father was up and sitting in a chair watching the front door. As soon as she had walked through the door he had wrapped her up in a bone crushing hug and was now speaking into her dark hair.

"I was just at the beach with Zuko and we lost track of time Dad. I'm sorry." She returned his hug for just a moment before he backed up and held her shoulders at arms length.

"You were out with Zuko." It was supposed to be a question but he wasn't saying it like a question. The relieved smile that he had worn just a minute ago was gone. It had been replaced by a frown of disapproval.

"Yes Dad. Is there a problem with that?" Immediately she was on the defensive. She hadn't really had many boyfriends and when she had boyfriends her dad didn't really notice since he was away at work almost all of the time. Hakoda took in a breath. This wasn't like his daughter. She was the responsible one. The one who always seemed to take care of the family even though she was the baby.

"I don't think that you should see Zuko anymore. He's a bad influence on you."

"What?! Are you kidding me Dad? That's crazy!"

"No, it's not Katara. You never used to stay out until two thirty in the morning until you met that boy. You're being reckless Katara."

"You can't tell me what to do and what not to do!" She wrenched her shoulders out of his grasp as her anger grew.

"I'm your father and I..."

"You may be my father but you're never around. You just left after Mom died! Mentally you just vanished! You can't just somehow decide when to show up and tell me how to live my life! Don't try to deny it! You've been gone and you know it. I'm finally happy with Zuko around. Don't try and take my happiness away because I won't let you." She had been yelling in the start of her rant but halfway through her voice had quited down to a dangerous whisper. Her father was speechless as his daughter ran away from him and into her room upstairs.

How could he do this to her? How could he try and tell her to stay away from Zuko? He was the only person that she felt sixteen around. He let her be herself. He may be her opposite but he kept her grounded when she wanted to drift away. Zuko was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Why would her Dad want to take that away? Didn't he realize how happy he made her? She was pacing around her room now with questions and thoughts circling around and around in her head. She couldn't believe the conversation that had just happened. She almost missed her phone buzzing with an incoming message. She paused only long enough to grab her phone from where she had tossed it on her bed when she had stormed into her room and resumed pacing. It was a text from Zuko.

_was ur dad mad?_

She scoffed at her phone.

_mad is an understatement_

She calmed herself down enough to flop down on her blue bed and wait for Zuko to text her back.

_wht happned?_

_dad flipped. said i shudnt c u again_

_o..wow_

_crazy right?_

Zuko studied his phone. He was slowly realizing just how much he cared for the girl that he was texting. He didn't want to be the one to come between her and her father. He could tell how much she loved him whenever they talked about him. Maybe he could suffer through a break to help her and her father repair the rift that he had caused.

_maybe a break wudnt be too bad_

He typed the message and looked at it for a minute and tried to talk himself out of sending it but he just kept talking himself back into sending it. Finally, five minutes later, he pushed the send button.

Katara couldn't believe what she was seeing. He wanted to take a break? Was it because of Mai? Had he realized that he still loved her?

_..u serious?_

He hoped that this was the right thing to do.

_just a lil break. not a break up. just some time so that u nd ur dad can make up_

She looked at her phone in disbelief. Was he really using her fight with her dad as an excuse to halfway break up with her? Was he serious?

_if u dont wanna be my bf all u hav to do is say so_

Now, he was freaking out. He began pacing in his room trying to figure out how to fix this. He didn't want to not be her boyfriend, but his dad hated him and it wasn't a fun time. He just didn't want her to have to go through that. That was all that he wanted. To spare her from pain, but it seemed he was causing her more pain instead.

_that's not wht i want katara_

She sat up and looked at her phone. She couldn't figure this boy out at all. First he said that he wanted to break up and now he was saying that he didn't want to break up. What did he want? What wasn't he saying?

_what do u want zuko?_

_i just kno wht its like to hav ur dad hate u. its not fun. i dont want u to go thru the same thing_

He hoped that he wasn't digging himself deeper. That was what he wanted. He just hoped that he'd said it right so that she got what he meant and didn't get even more mad at him.

Was he serious? He was dragging his own daddy issues into this? This wasn't about him and all HIS issues. This was about HER.

_mayb a break is a good idea_

Had she really just sent that? She had. Was she insane? What was she doing? But she didn't rush to text him back that no, a break was definitely NOT a good idea. She was sitting on her bedspread waiting for him to respond. Did she want him to try and fight for her or did she really want a break?

He couldn't believe that this was actually happening. Was this actually happening? He sat down hard on the floor and stared at the bright little screen of his phone. At the message that his girlfriend had just sent. Was she his girlfriend still?

_just for a week? to try nd smooth things ovr with ur dad?_

_fine. bye Zuko_

He stared at his phone in disbelief. Just like that? She was gone? Only for a week he reminded himself. Just for a week and then she'd be back. Then he could hold her again. Already he missed the cool feel of her body held against his. The way she always sighed into thier kisses. The way it felt to press his cheek against her hair.

She was mad at him, but only for a moment. Then the reality of what had just happened slammed into her like a pile of bricks. He was gone. He was gone? How could he be gone? She looked down at her phone hoping, praying, that he would text her saying that this was all a mistake. That this wasn't what he wanted. This wasn't what should be happening. That was when she felt the first tear slip down her cheek and onto her phone. She knew that it wouldn't be her last.

* * *

One week later found Katara curled up in her bed. She had laid there all of Saturday and Sunday. She'd even called in sick to sick on Monday and Tuesday. Every night she'd cry herself to sleep, but she couldn't sleep. She couldn't eat. She couldn't even function. She felt like someone had snuffed out a candle inside of her that she needed to keep going, but it was gone. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get warm. Her friends were not oblivious to this obvious change in her. On Wednesday she had been swarmed with Suki, Toph, Ty Lee, and Aang coming after her and asking her if she was ok. Telling her that they had missed her. She didn't even seem to see them. She just looked away and pressed on to her locker and then to her classes. Right after school she just went home. The coach let her after taking one look at her. She looked sick. She was pale and there were bags under her eyes. Her brother, who had already seen her like this, just stood at a distance waiting for them to see how changed she was. He had never seen his sister like this. She had barely eaten at all over the last four days. She was always shivering. He was worried about her. The light was gone from her eyes, and he had noticed a certain silent emo boy was being more silent and emo than usual. Zuko wouldn't talk either. Whenever Sokka looked over at the other boy during lunch his food was completely untouched. Both of them seemed to be in their own little worlds of misery. Sokka couldn't help but wonder what had happened between the two of them. Katara wouldn't even let him give her hugs. Finally on Thursday night Hakoda pulled his son aside.

"Have you noticed anything different about Katara lately?"

"What you mean the crying every night, the not eating, and the not sleeping? The not talking even at school to her friends? The fact that the couch sends her home right after school because she looks so weak and pale? Do you mean THAT Dad?" He couldn't believe that it had taken his father this long to notice the state of his daughter. Wasn't she supposed to be Daddy's little girl?

"What?! I just thought that she wasn't eating as much as she used to. That she looked more tired than normal. Why is she acting like this?" Sokka looked at his father incredulously. It was true that after their mom had died that his dad had kind of checked out but Sokka had thought that he was back but it looked like he still didn't know his kids very well.

"I don't know. Nobody knows. She won't talk to anyone. It started last Saturday. That night that she came home really late from hanging out with Zuko. That was the first time I heard her cry until she was asleep." Sokka looked down at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't really remember their mom even though he was the eldest. It had always been just him and Katara in his head. It killed him to see his sister like this.

"Last.. Saturday.." Hakoda's face paled as he remembered his daughter coming downstairs with red, blood shot eyes half an hour after she had stormed up to her room to tell him that she and Zuko had broken up and that he should be happy now. He had gotten his way. He had figured that it was just a typical teenage girl overreacting. He hadn't realized how deeply it would affect her.

"What? Do you know what happened Dad?"

"She... I suggested that she and Zuko stop seeing each other and she stormed upstairs. I thought he was a bad influence on her. She had been out until two thirty for Christ's Sake. She came down a little while later and told me that she and him had broken up.." Sokka's face grew increasingly pale as he listened to his dad explain and understanding dawned upon him.

Across town Iroh was bringing his nephew another cup of tea. Ever since last Saturday Zuko had retreated back into his shell and his uncle had watched with dismay. He had been coming out. Saying what was on his mind. Telling people how he felt. Even making jokes and smiling every now and then. Then Katara stopped coming around and he didn't eat. He didn't seem to sleep either. He despaired for his nephew's health. A couple of his friends had come around every so often but they never stayed for very long. Zuko just didn't talk to them. He just sat on his bed and stared off into space. Sometimes Iroh heard soft, sad, heartbroken songs coming from his room. Most often they were country songs. Not the loud guitar riffs and drum solos that he had grown used to. Vaguely he could remember Katara showing him a few songs that sounded like the ones that he seemed to always play now.

"Zuko. I brought you some tea."

"Thank you Uncle." The teenage boy unfolded himself from his bed and stode over to the doorway where his uncle was standing.

"I've been meaning to ask... What happened to Katara?" Zuko snapped his head up to meet his uncle's eyes. It was the first time since last Saturday that he had heard anyone say her name aloud. Sure, he hadn't thought of anything else but it was one thing to hear a name in your head and one thing to hear someone say it aloud.

"We umm.." He swallowed and tried to hold back the tears he'd been holding in for one very long week. "Decided to" Here his voice cracked. "take a short break. It should end today." Iroh studied his nephew. He'd never seen him this sad. Any other person would say that he looked the same as he always did, but he could tell the difference. He could see the sadness, the despair, in his nephew's nearly golden eyes.

"Thank you for the tea Uncle." Then he quietly and gently shut the door on his Uncle. Setting the tea down he walked back over to his bed and started the playlist that he had made. He had titled it 'Katara - missing.' There were a couple other playlists that he just couldn't bring himself to listen to. Like the one that she had made for him. The one that he had made of all of her favorite songs. After two songs that he barely heard Wanted by Hunter Hayes came one. He made it ten words in before he was surrounded by the memory of their first dance at the Sadie Hawkin's. He had tears streaming down his face before he even registered that he might start crying.

* * *

"Katara!" Sokka was barrelling up the stairs. Everything made sense now. Why his sister had been so out of it. Why Zuko was acting the same way. She didn't look up from her phone when he came crashing into her room. She had been staring at it since she got home. This was the day that they were supposed to be back together. Should she text him first or should she wait for him to text her? Did he even want to get back together? It was driving her insane.

"I know what happened with you and Zuko. Dad totally blames himself. You need to go over to Zuko's. Here are the keys. Go. NOW." She looked up then to find a set of keys coming towards her face. Instantly her hand shot up and caught them.

"Sokka?"

"Stop sitting there and staring at me with those eyes. Go over to Zuko's and make up with him. Dad totally agrees that you should. He realizes that he was wrong and that he wasn't a bad influence on you."

"Why isn't he telling me this?" She still hadn't moved from her spot on her bed.

"Because he figured that you wouldn't listen to him, so I'm here. Just go now. We can fix you first and then fix you and Dad. Go. Please go Katara. You're dying without him and I know that you can't see it but he's dying without you." She didn't need him to say anything else. Leaping off of her bed in her blue sweat pants and grey tank top she slipped her flip flops on while walking out of the door. She slid into the driver's seat of her dad's jeep. As soon as she had started the engine she was gone. She made it to Zuko's house in record time. Only one minute. She had sped ten miles over the speed limit and blown through five stop signs. She had no idea how she hadn't been pulled over. Without knocking she burst into his house to see Iroh just standing in the entryway gaping at her. This was not the girl he remembered. She was skinnier, paler, almost sick looking with bags under her eyes. Her beautiful hair was completely tangled and she was wearing only a tank top and sweat pants. She had a crazed and slightly desperate glint in her eye.

"Zuko?"

"In his room." As she blew past him he watched her go. He realized that she looked almost exactly like Zuko. It had only been a week and yet both teens looked like they'd dropped ten pounds. He watched as she ran to his room and stood in front of his door for a moment before bursting into his room.

* * *

He was laying on his back staring at his ceiling with his phone in his hand. He didn't know if he was supposed to text her first or not. He had decided to let himself cry. Uncle wouldn't mind. He had gone through six more songs before a song by Rascal Flatts came on that he couldn't help but think resonated within him too much for his comfort.

_I can usually drink you right off of my mind, but I miss you tonight._

_I can normally push you right out of my heart, but I'm too tired to fight._

_Yeah the whole thing begins, and I let you sink into my veins_

_And I feel the pain like it's new_

_Everything that we were._

_Everything that you said._

_Everything that I did and that I couldn't do plays through tonight._

_Tonight your memory burns like a fire_

_With every one it grows higher and higher_

_And I can't get over it, I just can't put out this love_

_I just sit in these flames and pray that you'll come back_

_Close my eyes tightly, hold on and hope that I'm dreaming.._

_Come wake me up_

It was then that Katara threw open his door to reveal him laying on his bed helplessly crying. He sat up when his door swung open so fast and hit his wall. Uncle would never open his door like that, and there he saw her. Standing in his doorway and looking at him like she was never happier to see anyone or anything in the whole wide world. Three seconds passed with them just looking at each other, crying.

"Katara." He sounded so weak, so broken. She just couldn't take it anymore, so she took the two steps to his bed and fell into his arms. Their lips locked and their eyes closed they told each other how much they had missed each other. With her fingers knotted in his hair she let him know about every night that she had cried until the sun rose. Every night that she had barely slept without him in her life. With his warm hands leaving trails of heat all along her back he showed her how much he had missed her. How much he had been craving her. Not just this. Not just her touch but the sight of her. Her laughter. Her eyes. Her stubborness. Everything. Finally she pulled herself off of him to look at him. He was smiling. He was actually smiling.

"Zuko." She sighed his name. He could see color again. He reached up and smoothed the tangled hair back from her face. Her beautiful face. With his other hand resting on her waist he realized just how small she was. Not like the time at the Sadie Hawkin's Dance. She was skinny in an unhealthy way.

"Katara, have you been eating?" She fell back onto his chest and he wrapped her up as the music suddenly got loud with the chorus after a slight pause.

"No, not really. I couldn't." Her voice was muffled by his chest. "Have you been sleeping?" She peeked up at him to make sure that she had seen the bags under his eyes.

"No, not really. I couldn't." She laughed a little.

"Me either."

"Katara, I was an idiot. I should've known that a step away from you was always going to be a step in the wrong direction for me."

"Zuko, it's not all your fault. I agreed. I was mad at you for suggesting we take a break. You were just trying to help. You were just trying to spare me the pain you had felt." With one arm he held her close and with the other he stroked her hair. She had both of her hands folded up underneath her chest with her palms flat against his chest. She had never felt more at home. More at peace. This was exactly where she was supposed to be. Why had she been anywhere else?

"Let's never do that again ok?" She smiled and snuggled deeper into him.

"Ok."

They spent the next couple of hours just lying there like that. Soon enough Zuko realized how sleepy he was getting. He tried to nudge Katara but realized that she had already fallen asleep on top of him. He looked over at his clock. It was only eleven. He should still be wide awake. He was about to call Uncle into his room when he appeared along with Katara's father. Zuko hurridedly closed his eyes in an attempt to make them think he was sleeping.

"See? They're perfectly fine. I'll sleep in here on the floor. I fear that if we move them now that they might wake up and not be able to sleep again. My nephew hasn't been able to sleep for the past week."

"Neither has my daughter. I can't say that I like this, but if this is what it takes to get her back to normal then so be it. You'll sleep in here on the floor? Are you a light sleeper?"

"Yes, you have nothing to worry about."

"Alright. Thank you Iroh." The dark haired man clapped the older man on the shoulder and left.

"I know that you are awake Zuko. I won't sleep in your room, but I will sleep right by the door. Don't do anything stupid." With that Iroh gently closed the door. What he didn't know was that his words fell on deaf ears. Zuko had only heard the first four words Hakoda had said before he drifted off into sleep.

When he woke up before her, which he always did, he looked down at the girl he still held in his arms. The sun fell upon her face and highlighted her features. She looked beautiful. He smiled and moved a strand of hair from her face. She murmured and stirred a little bit. Slowly her eyelids fluttered open. Bleary blue eyes looked up at his face. She couldn't help but feel like this was how she wanted her day to start. Looking up at Zuko.

"Well good morning." He laughed a bit as she stretched and yawned hugely. She was cute when she was sleepy.

"What time is it?" Came the groggy reply as she rubbed her eyes. Zuko looked over at his clock again.

"Uh... noon."

"What really? My dad must be freaking out by now." She tried to get up to leave but he held her down.

"Your dad knows that you're here. Uncle's just outside the door. It's fine."

"Really? Oh.. well then nevermind." She laid herself back down on top of him and flicked a bit of his hair that was hanging in his face.

"How'd you sleep?" His hand found the little stip of skin on her lower back where her tank top rode up and he began rubbing his thumb over it again and again knowing that she loved it.

"Really good actually. I can't believe I didn't move. You?"

"Same. Actually slept. No nightmares. No dreams either." Katara laughed a little at his last remark about not having had a dream.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, you just reminded me of a quote. It's super cheesy."

"Well, let's here it."

"First, this." She wriggled herself up farther on his body and kissed him long and hard.

"What was that for?" Zuko finally got out when she broke it off.

"One week of pent up not kissing you."

"Well in that case..." He reached up and pulled her head back down towards his. One kiss was followed by a second which was followed by many. They never led to more. They never felt like they needed more. Just this way of expressing things that words would just never be able to appropriately describe.

"Ok, now can I hear that quote?" Katara was back to having her head laying on his chest and was tracing lazy circles on the part of his chest that wasn't taken up by her head.

"I don't think I remember it exactly right but it went something like.. you know it's love when reality is finally better than your dreams. Told you it was cheesy."

"Katara? Zuko?" Uncle's voice calling from outside the door prevented Zuko from answering.

"Yes, Uncle?"

"Would you two like breakfast..er.. lunch?" Zuko looked down at Katara as she looked up at him. Neither had eaten in a week and both were starving.

"We would love lunch Iroh. Thank you. Make sure to make a lot of food!" Katara cheerily called back.

"Alright!" Iroh was happy to hear that his nephew wanted food. Quickly, well as quickly as Iroh ever moved towards food that he _wasn't_ going to eat, he walked into the kitchen to begin making their lunch.

"Katara, I really am sorry for being such an idiot."

"It's fine, Zuko. I forgive you. It's just like life. A work in progress. We make mistakes. It doesn't matter how many mistakes we make as long as we don't make the same mistakes over and over again and that we learn from our mistakes."

"What did I ever do without you?"

"I have no idea." She smiled up at him and pressed another kiss to his lips. This was where she was meant to be and she wasn't going to let anyone move her from here again. This was where he was supposed to be and he wasn't going to let anyone take her from him again.

**Yeah... That was TOOOOOTALLY the last chapter. Hope y'all liked it! Hope I did ok for my first AU story. And my first Avatar story... Ok so of course there was Wanted by Hunter Hayes and I don't own that. The other song was Come Wake Me Up by Rascal Flatts and I don't own that either. Goodbye now my lovelies 3**


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